Juvenall Wilson

Every now and then I get asked by friends why I tend to hate the mass media so much. Well, thanks to CNN, Fox News and MSNBC, I no longer need to explain myself. I now just need to say to them “Do you remember that time when the Nike corporate jet had issues with it’s landing gear and the major networks shit themselves for hours talking about it as if it were real news?”

PORTLAND, Ore. — A Nike Inc. corporate jet carrying seven people developed landing gear problems shortly after takeoff Monday but then made a safe emergency landing after the gear was unstuck.

Each of the three major 24 hour news networks managed to turn a little technical trouble on a private jet into some sort of major world event. We’re not talking about a quick bulletin here; it was full-on, “oh my god” reporting. Within minutes of “breaking the news”, each network had “experts” on to talk about landing jets and what could be going on in the pilot’s mind.

Don’t these people have anything better to do with their resources? You know, such as the forgotten war in Afghanistan that’s still a complete mess? When was the last time you spent two solid hours talking about that? I’m sorry that’s not as sexy as, say, rich old white men on a multi-million dollar corporate jet, but that’s how real journalism works.